In a strategic race at Dwars door Vlaanderen, EF Education-EasyPost took an unconventional approach by leveraging media pressure on Wout van Aert to enhance their own chances. Recognizing that Visma's team was focused on securing a victory for Van Aert to counter public criticism, EF anticipated their tactics and positioned Neilson Powless strategically. This foresight allowed them to mitigate Visma's numerical advantage and predictably align with Van Aert's actions, ultimately leading to Powless's success.
Going into the mid-week race, there was immense pressure on Wout van Aert to perform and fight back against the criticism levelled at him every day this week in the press in Belgium and beyond.
EF found a way to capitalise on it. Finding themselves in a situation where Powless was outgunned by Visma-Lease, they were able to anticipate exactly what the Dutch team would do.
We were convinced that reading the media, for the last few races or after E3, it was up to Visma to reduce the noise around Wout and the only way to do that was by winning with Wout - not with Tiesj.
That was where we put our money, sit in the wheel of Wout. I think Visma had the plan to go with Wout to the finish.
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